Let's All Sit Around the Campfire
by AnimeGirl 144
Summary: [FusionFall Retro's contest submission & winner] Despite all the craziness they've had to deal with recently, four friends set up camp in Prickly Pines to enjoy a day off.


**On August 6th, FusionFall Universe ran an art and writing contest with the prompt being "Summer Fun in FusionFall." The following is my submission and one of the many winners.**

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"Am I the only one who finds this fire _completely_ unnecessary?" Lizzie complained. "It's eighty-three degrees!"

"Awh, c'mon Liz," Suzy replied, a megawatt smile on her face. "It's tradition."

"Yeah!" Madison agreed from the opposite side of the fire ring. "And you know what we need? A campfire song! I'll start." She cleared her throat. "Rainbow Monkey, Rainbow-"

"That's not a campfire song!" Lizzie interjected.

"Yeah-huh," Madison argued back. She gestured at the tents. "This is a camp." She pointed at the fire. "That's a fire." She pointed at herself. "And I was just singing a song."

Before Lizzie could find a rather large rock to throw at the blonde, Robin quickly cut in, holding up her _Puppet Pals_ tote bag.

"How about we have another campfire tradition?" Robin suggested, pulling out a box of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars. "Any of you girls up for s'mores?"

Madison's hand immediately shot up into the air, followed by Suzy's hand only seconds later. Lizzie, despite her annoyance, raised her hand as well. She wasn't going to pass up s'mores.

The girls were spending a night up in Prickly Pines. Prickly Pines was one of the few areas on the planet spared from the brunt of Fuse's toxic Fusion Matter; other parts of the forest, like Leaky Lake, were completely consumed in Fusion Matter. The girls had set up camp next to a tree just a few steps from a natural waterfall and the plunge pool it let in to.

The girls were having what Madison labeled a "daycation." After fighting Fusions for over two hundred days since the invasion happened, the girls decided they were in need of a vacation, and it had been Suzy's idea to go camping. The weather was warm in early August, and while the general populous would head down to Bravo Beach to enjoy the cool ocean water, Suzy and her three friends went upward to spend their day off in the woods, camping for the night.

The forest was empty of travelers, due to the convenience of the K.N.D. S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and the Monkey Skyway Agents up at Mount Blackhead, as well as due to the large number of Fusions that were in the area. The girls weren't at all frightened by the alien invaders; Suzy, Lizzie, and Robin were volunteer combatants in the war, and Madison was oblivious and had no real concept of how dangerous the Fusions were. Plus, their campsite was in an area the Fusions didn't venture to, so they were feeling safe for the night.

Suzy had arrived early that morning to claim the spot and start setting up their camp. When the other girls arrived after the sun rose over the mountains, they began to assemble their camp. Suzy assembled both tents, Lizzie collected firewood, Robin stacked the firewood, and Madison made the firepit. When the girls had finished setting up camp, they changed into their swimsuits and hopped in the water next to their camp, cooling off just as the weather was warming up. It had been fun, though trouble arose when Madison, wearing a shark fin, pretended to be a shark and bit Lizzie's leg. Lizzie, in retaliation, attempted to drown the blonde. Suzy and Robin stopped it, and the girls called it a day on swimming. They moved on to hiking, and spent the rest of the afternoon hiking around the area. After the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the girls started their fire, and that was where they were currently at, heating up their marshmallows to put on their s'more sandwiches.

"We should tell _ghost stories_," Madison said, a mischievous smile forming on her face. She hadn't noticed her marshmallow fell off her stick and into the fire. "Once upon a time, there was this ghost called Ghostie Whoastie-"

"Hey Madison, how about we do something else?" Robin suggested, smiling a bit weakly. She was already handing a fresh marshmallow to the blonde. "I'd like to get some sleep tonight."

"Instead of ghost stories, why not talk about the craziest thing we've experienced since Fuse arrived?" Suzy suggested, putting her warm marshmallow on the rest of her s'more.

"Ooh! Let's do that!" Madison agreed, dropping the new marshmallow into the fire.

Lizzie rolled her eyes at seeing yet another of Madison's marshmallows meet their fate to the flames. She got up and grabbed Madison's stick from her hand, snatching up a marshmallow on the way back to her seat. She sat back down and began warming up both their marshmallows. She used her elbow to gesture at the red head.

"Since you suggested it, why don't you start us off?" Lizzie suggested.

"Hmmm," Suzy mumbled, thinking about the craziest thing she had experienced. "This may be cheating, but does anything happening over in Area 51.5 count? That place disobeys _all_ laws of physics and logic."

Lizzie and Robin nodded in agreement.

"Learning that place was a thing and what was happening there was definitely crazy," Robin stated. "I think we can add Haunted Ridge as well. Clouds hang over the that place on a daily basis, I feel like something that's not even a Fusion will pop up out of the ground and snatch me!" A shudder ran down the back of Robin's spine. "Just thinking of the place makes me shiver."

"It's not _that_ scary," Lizzie commented, assembling her sandwich and Madison's.

"Ooooo, I've been there. I even saw an invisible man!" Madison contributed. "He tried to sell me stuff, but they were too expensive."

"You did not," Lizzie countered, handing Madison her s'more.

Madison accepted the s'more and devoured it in one bite. Lizzie frowned, repulsed by the inhuman display, but grabbed another two marshmallows on her way back to her seat.

"How did you know he was invisible?" Suzy asked, making another s'more. She didn't believe Madison's story either, but she wasn't going to throw it away so quickly. Maybe Madison really did see something.

"Well, he had this funny hat on him and a pair of sunglasses, but the rest of him was invisible," Madison answered, eagerly eyeing the marshmallows that Lizzie was heating up. "I saw him in Candy Cove, too. I think he has a twin!"

"How about you, Lizzie?" Robin asked, moving the topic away from Madison's story before she could mention seeing this invisible man in another part of the world, like Eternal Vistas or Genius Grove. "You've been so involved with Sector V, I bet nothing is crazy to you."

Lizzie momentarily frowned at the mention of Sector V, but she shrugged it off and began to assemble two s'mores. That was all in the past; she was a different Lizzie now.

"Craziest for me is probably Morbucks trying to get me to send Ben a love letter," Lizzie replied, her frown twisting in disgust as she remembered that particular mission.

"No way!" Robin exclaimed, her s'more falling out of her hand. Of the four girls, she was the one who knew Princess the best. The two didn't speak a word to each other once they got into Pokey Oaks Junior High, but Robin was kept up to date on all of Princess' exploits thanks to Bubbles. She hadn't yet heard about this.

"What did you do?" Suzy asked, leaning in eagerly to hear the story, momentarily forgetting about the s'more she was making. Ben had no shortage of admirers, but _Princess_? Who knew!

"I tore up the letter," Lizzie answered with a shrug, handing Madison her s'more.

"You didn't!" Robin gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth.

"I absolutely did."

"What did Princess do?" Suzy questioned, literally sitting on the edge of her seat with her head in her hands.

"Screamed and ranted and threatened. You know, the usual." Lizzie rolled her eyes, taking a bite out of her s'more. "I got tired of hearing her shrill voice, so I left. I haven't heard from her since."

The three other girls fell into hysterical laughs, and Lizzie followed immediately after. Madison laughed so hard she fell out of her seat. Suzy even cried a little, and had to wipe the tears away.

"Liz, I really, _really_ wish you told me about this sooner so I could have seen it in person," Suzy said.

Robin nodded along in agreement. Both girls were very nice and pleasant, but even they had a tolerance that Princess had crossed ages ago. The two couldn't deny that her being brought down a peg or two delighted them; just a little.

"If I knew that was the request, I just might have videoed it," Lizzie said, a smile on her face. "It was pretty satisfying."

"I'll say!" Suzy agreed. "Say, who wants to play a game of _Yipper_?"

"I left my deck at my house," Lizzie answered with a shrug.

"I'm actually collecting _Hokeymon_ cards," Robin replied, putting away the s'more ingredients.

"Ooo ooo! Me, too!" Madison exclaimed happily, having a hand in the air. "But I don't really play the game. I just like collecting the pretty cards."

"Next time we do this, we should bring our cards and have one big card game," Suzy suggested.

"Next time?" Lizzie asked. You're thinking of doing another camping trip?"

Suzy shrugged. "Maybe not another camping trip, but another daycation with each other."

"I'd like another daycation," Robin spoke up with a grin.

"Me, too!" Madison chirped.

Lizzie smiled and nodded. "I'd like that, too, but let's not wait so long for the next one. Two hundred days of nonstop volunteering is killer."

The three others nodded, humming in agreement.

"Thanks for this, by the way," Lizzie said. "I know I complained a bit today, but I really did enjoy this. I liked spending the day with you all."

"I second that," Robin agreed.

"Third!" Madison shouted.

Suzy smiled at her three friends. "I'm happy you all came. I couldn't think of better people to spend my daycation with."

"GROUP HUG!" Madison declared, getting up and forcefully bringing the three others into a tight hug. None of the girls complained about the hug, and even contributed to it. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

"We should go to Dinosaur Pass next time," Madison suggested, momentarily breaking the good mood.

"_**Absolutely not!**_"

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**Reference/Trivia**

**Characters: Lizzie Devine from _Codename: Kids Next Door_, Suzy from _Johnny Bravo_, Madison Spaghettini Papadopoulus from _Class of 3000_, Robin Snyder from _Powerpuff Girls_. ****Ages: Lizzie and Suzy are about 11, Madison is 12, and Robin is the same age as the Girls.**

**The girls' campsite is based on a real location in the game.**

**The "over two hundred days" is in reference to the amount of time between January 14th (the day the game was released) and August 6th (the day the contest was announced).**


End file.
